Question about Affidavit of support

[An_thunder 2]

Hello guys! How are you doing today?

 

I'd like to ask for some help here.

 

I'm from Chile and my wife is the American citizen who is petitioning me. She had been living here almost her entire life and now we want to immigrate as a marriage to the States. I recently got approved my I-130, so soon I'll have to send more documents to the NVC. In the meanwhile, we are thinking about how to solve the "Affidavit of support" problem,  since as I told before she'd been living here almost her entire life so she doesn't has a job or any assets in the states.

My mother-in-law wants to help us in this new adventure so as my wife is going to leave the house with me, she (my mother-in-law) is going to sell her house to buy one a little bit smaller just for her. With the rest of the money she is going to "sponsor" us, giving us some of the money that she’ll get from the sell. This money is more than 120K USD in chilean pesos plus the money that we are being saving together that is going to be something like 15.000 - 20.000 USD.

 

So the question is, how can we use this money for the affidavit of support considering that my wife is not working in the states but she will receive this money for the future support of us both and as far as I know you need at least 5 times above the poverty line in assets to qualify? Can that money be used even if the money is going to be in a Chilean bank account? How we can declare that money in the affidavit?

 

As I told you before I'm anticipating to the next step in our visa process to do this more expedite and to be clear how to do it.

 

Thank you!

PD: If this threat belongs to another place move it to where its belongs  please =)

[swe_jill 7]

If I understand your suggestion correctly, yes, you can use the amount in savings as evidence of Assets to Supplemental Income. I have never seen the requirement that the asset be in USD, just that the amount be equivalent or greater to the requirement in USD. If the property is in her name, it's not even necessary that you sell the house, but you will probably need to have an appraisal done to verify the value of the asset: "You may include the net value of your home as an asset. The net value of the home is the appraised value of the home, minus the sum of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home. If you wish to include the net value of your home, then you must include documentation demonstrating that you own it, a recent appraisal by a licensed appraiser, and evidence of the amount of any and all loans secured by a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the home."

 

And as your wife is sponsoring you, her spouse, the asset requirement is three times the minimum federal poverty guideline, not five times: "Guidelines for your household size, however, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference"

 

All quotes from here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864instr.pdf

 

Good luck

[geowrian 22,344]

It's actually only 3x the required income level to sponsor a spouse via assets alone. The income levels are available here: https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864p.pdf. For a household of 2, you would need $20,300 * 3 = $60,900 in assets as a bare minimum.

 

The difficulty may be in showing said assets are actually available for use. If she just gives you the money, the CO may question if it's really available to you or if you're just holding it to get through the visa process. They prefer to see the money either being accumulated over time, or having been in the account for a period of time (6-12 months usually). It doesn't mean they won't accept it...if you can convince them that the money is really yours to do whatever you want with it then they should accept it, but that's an uphill battle IMO.

 

An alternative is for the MIL to be a joint sponsor, in which case the large amount of money being dumped into the account can be reasonably explained with just the sale paperwork. Note that this requires the MIL to be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US.

[pushbrk 13,836]

12 hours ago, geowrian said:

It's actually only 3x the required income level to sponsor a spouse via assets alone. The income levels are available here: https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-864p.pdf. For a household of 2, you would need $20,300 * 3 = $60,900 in assets as a bare minimum.

 

The difficulty may be in showing said assets are actually available for use. If she just gives you the money, the CO may question if it's really available to you or if you're just holding it to get through the visa process. They prefer to see the money either being accumulated over time, or having been in the account for a period of time (6-12 months usually). It doesn't mean they won't accept it...if you can convince them that the money is really yours to do whatever you want with it then they should accept it, but that's an uphill battle IMO.

 

An alternative is for the MIL to be a joint sponsor, in which case the large amount of money being dumped into the account can be reasonably explained with just the sale paperwork. Note that this requires the MIL to be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US.

Good explanation.  Consular Officers consider the totality of circumstances in making the public charge decisioni.  They are well aware from their training about family temporarily gifting money to avoid having to sign binding affidavits of support or to simply get around the qualifications.  The liquid assets do not have to be in the petitioner's name though.  Assets of then intending immigrant are equally valid.

[An_thunder 2]

4 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Good explanation.  Consular Officers consider the totality of circumstances in making the public charge decisioni.  They are well aware from their training about family temporarily gifting money to avoid having to sign binding affidavits of support or to simply get around the qualifications.  The liquid assets do not have to be in the petitioner's name though.  Assets of then intending immigrant are equally valid.

Thank you guys for the great information!.

 

So, according to this, what are your advices to do? What is the best option for us? The money currently is under my mother-in-law custody as the house was hers so she received the money. I think that we need to prove that she is going to "sponsor" us with that money but I don't wnat that this look suspicious.

 

We can try with another sponsor but is difficult for us since my wife's family is currently unavailable to act as our sponsor and we don't have a lot of friends there that at least earn the minimal.

 

Difficult situation here...

[pushbrk 13,836]

1 hour ago, An_thunder said:

Thank you guys for the great information!.

 

So, according to this, what are your advices to do? What is the best option for us? The money currently is under my mother-in-law custody as the house was hers so she received the money. I think that we need to prove that she is going to "sponsor" us with that money but I don't wnat that this look suspicious.

 

We can try with another sponsor but is difficult for us since my wife's family is currently unavailable to act as our sponsor and we don't have a lot of friends there that at least earn the minimal.

 

Difficult situation here...

You cannot "prove" she is going to sponsor you with this money.  If she will act as joint sponsor, then she will need to "qualify" as joint sponsor and provide an I-864 and if she's married, her husband will provide an I-864a.  You wife will still be the primary sponsor and provide her own I-864.

 

There is no sponsorship option wherein a person says, X amount of my cash is being used to sponsor an immigrant.  Put THAT out of your mind.  Become an A-student of the I-864 instructions and move forward based on that.

[swe_jill 7]

I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that your MIL can only be a joint sponsor for the AOS if she is a resident of the US or can prove domicile in the US. If that is the case with your MIL, it would certainly be easiest to have her serve as a joint sponsor with your wife. If that's not the case, if your MIL's property was transferred into your wife's name (with or without a subsequent sale of the property), it sounds like that appraised value would meet the assets requirement. 

 

If transferring the title isn't an option, could you take the gift from your MIL and let it sit in your bank accounts for a while? Delays by the petitioner (up to a point) are allowed through the visa process. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by swe_jill

[pushbrk 13,836]

2 hours ago, swe_jill said:

I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that your MIL can only be a joint sponsor for the AOS if she is a resident of the US or can prove domicile in the US. If that is the case with your MIL, it would certainly be easiest to have her serve as a joint sponsor with your wife. If that's not the case, if your MIL's property was transferred into your wife's name (with or without a subsequent sale of the property), it sounds like that appraised value would meet the assets requirement. 

 

If transferring the title isn't an option, could you take the gift from your MIL and let it sit in your bank accounts for a while? Delays by the petitioner (up to a point) are allowed through the visa process. 

Yes, but they would likely need to delay six months or more in order for the money to be in her account long enough to be considered "hers" in this context.

 

Usually, the offer of cash is in lieu of becoming obligated under the contract terms of the I-864.  People tend to be more ready to trust their daughter to return money than to trust daughter and son in law to support themselves for the rest of the joint sponsor's life.  This is why temporary possession of gifted assets is "seen through" by Consular Officers.

Edited January 24, 2018 by pushbrk

[swe_jill 7]

41 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Yes, but they would likely need to delay six months or more in order for the money to be in her account long enough to be considered "hers" in this context.

 

Usually, the offer of cash is in lieu of becoming obligated under the contract terms of the I-864.  People tend to be more ready to trust their daughter to return money than to trust daughter and son in law to support themselves for the rest of the joint sponsor's life.  This is why temporary possession of gifted assets is "seen through" by Consular Officers.

Completely understood and agreed. We initiated a delay of approximately 6 months between my husband's appointment notice (July 2016) and scheduling his appointment (now next month) because it better suited our needs and our kids' school schedule. We had the option to delay up to a year at that stage. 

 

Granted it's been a long time since we were at the I-130 stage, but if there is an option to delay before initiating the next stage, it suits the original poster and his wife, and it helps to ensure the success of their application, then it's an option worth considering. 

[An_thunder 2]

Thank you all guys for your info! I'm reading everything and trying to think what we can do about it, since the date to fill the affidavit and the rest of documents is getting closer and closer.